1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a combined-operation type switching apparatus which is capable of switching a plurality of contacts by rotating or sliding (pressing) an operation unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional multi-switching apparatus installed in a vehicle has been disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-269106. In this switching apparatus, a switching device having a plurality of sets of contacts is disposed inside a housing, and a plurality of keys for actuating the respective contacts are arranged on the top surface of the housing. The switching device is formed of an insulating base provided with a plurality of fixed contacts and a rubber sheet provided with respective movable contacts on the inner bottom surfaces of a plurality of dome-like swells. This rubber sheet is placed on the insulating base in such a manner that the respective movable contacts are spaced from the associated fixed contacts by a predetermined spacing provided by the dome-like swells. The switching apparatus constructed as described above is operated as follows. When the operator presses a certain key, the corresponding swell formed on the rubber sheet is selectively buckled and deformed due to the pressed key. Accordingly, the movable contact provided on the inner bottom surface of the deformed swell comes into contact with the associated fixed contact provided for the insulating base, thereby changing the switch to the on state.
However, the conventional switching apparatus of this type encounters the following problems. Since a plurality of keys are arranged in the same plane of the housing, the overall switching apparatus inevitably becomes large horizontally. It is thus difficult to mount the switching apparatus in a narrow space, such as somewhere around the steering wheel of a vehicle. In addition, to actuate a particular switch, it is required that the operator visually select one of the plurality of keys. Hence, the switching apparatus of this type is not adaptable for the type in which the driver feels for a desired key to actuate it by touch while driving.